Source: http://www.thekindland.com/your-prison- ... nd-you-403A federal inmate and former practicing lawyer who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal corroborates Ferranti’s experience: “The good ol’ BOP pretty effectually silenced my blog,” he writes in a letter. Despite the First Amendment rights guaranteed to prisoners, “In practice, prison officials have the ability to make your life so miserable that they can shut most inmates up. That’s what happened to me.”
When the former lawyer’s blog caught the attention of prison officials, “they flipped out,” he explains. The blog, now defunct, began by detailing the trial that led to his conviction and morphed into a meditation on daily life behind bars. “I was told point blank that the BOP is a conservative, secretive organization that does not take kindly to those that shed light on its practices.”
After facing a barrage of threats, including Diesel therapy (a punishment that involves being shipped by bus in shackles around the country for months), loss of email and phone privileges, the possibility of being transferred to a higher security prison and losing a year off earned for good behavior, he was ultimately locked in solitary confinement. He agreed to take down his blog shortly thereafter.
Justin Paperny, a prison consultant who served 18 months in federal prison for violating security laws, runs Etikallc.com, which features blog posts from about 15 prisoners currently behind bars. Paperny says that the guest bloggers on his site haven’t encountered any backlash from prison officials or the BOP. However, he admits to editing his writers’ work and believes in a measured approach to blogging.
“You shouldn’t write negatively about staff or guards or inmates,” he advises. “You don’t want to write about things that could jeopardize what they’re trying to do there, like writing negatively about another inmate or staff or trade secret. That threatens the security of the institution. That’s when they could shut you down or try to intimidate you and threaten you.”
According to BOP spokesman Ross, if a prison feels its security is threatened by an inmates’ writing, it can take steps to prevent the author from publishing. Prison staff will even work with the FBI to take down the offending material or address the problem.
Because it can be difficult to prove that an article or blog post poses a direct threat to a person or prison, officials sometimes resort to roundabout means of doling out punishment. Ferranti claims he was not officially thrown into the hole for writing, but for sham accusations. The anonymous prisoner recounts a similar story: “I was charged and ultimately convicted, despite disputing it, of ‘violating a direct order.’ The direct order? To stop blogging. So the charge stuck even though the order itself was constitutionally suspect.”
Robert J. Rosso, a regular contributor to VICE and the Fix, and an active blogger who is serving a life sentence for a non-violent drug offense, says that backlash toward inmates covering controversial topics is “a given.”
“The day will come when you will write something that staff doesn't like, and there will be retaliation,” he writes via CorrLinks.
He notes that some staff and officials, as well as other inmates, are supportive of his work; it all depends on the prison administration in a given facility. His advice to would-be writers is to read, learn, and memorize all prison policies related to correspondence, media contacts, phone policy, and manuscripts and get to know the administration well. Especially, he says, the Special Investigative Supervisors (SIS), which he calls the “BOP’s Gestapo.”
Rosso and Ferranti both say that when they develop a relationship with the staff, they concede to the reasonable boundaries staff sets. That might entail changing names or certain details. “Their main concern is that the executive staff or powers that be in Washington don’t come down on their asses for something that you wrote,” Rosso says.
Your Prison Blog Is Legal, But It Will Land You in the Hole
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MachineGhost
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Your Prison Blog Is Legal, But It Will Land You in the Hole
Apparentely, it was illegal until just a few years ago to publish anything under a byline if you were an inmate. It seems like the Bureau of Prisons doesn't want its dirty laundry aired. I'm not sure why people care about bylines, but maybe there is a legal reason for it?
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!